A group of citizens in the Netherlands urged public broadcaster AVROTROS on Thursday not to broadcast the final of the Eurovision Song Contest on May 11 due to Israel's participation in the event.
Gathering in front of the broadcaster's building in the northern city of Hilversum, the group carried Palestinian flags and banners saying “Boycott Eurovision” and “Free Palestine.”
They demanded the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the contest's organizer, to ban Israel as it did Russia two years ago over its invasion of Ukraine.
Speaking to Anadolu on behalf of the group, Chan, who declined to disclose her full name, noted that Israel should be excluded from the contest because of the genocide it is carrying out in Gaza.
"At least the broadcast should stop when (the contestant representing) Israel is onstage," she said.
Israel has waged a deadly military offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7 cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas, which killed some 1,200 people.
Nearly 34,600 Palestinians have since been killed and over 77,700 others injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.
More than six months into the Israeli war, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins, pushing 85% of the enclave's population into internal displacement amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine, according to the UN.
Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which in January issued an interim ruling that ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.
